10 Reasons Why Google Is Supplanting Microsoft as a Legal Target

By Don Reisinger |
Posted 2010-02-25

10 Reasons Why Google Is Supplanting Microsoft as a Legal Target

Since the 1990s, Microsoft has been the world's legal bombing range. After
Windows gained popularity and applications such as Internet Explorer were
bundled with the operating system, government regulators, technology pundits
and folks who closely follow the industry claimed Microsoft needed to be taken
down before it was too late.

For years, the company battled it out to maintain its standing as a dominant
player in the market. It was a long battle, but aside from some prolonged
sniping with European Union regulators, the company is losing its hard-earned
standing as the world's favorite judicial punching bag.

That title
now belongs to Google. The Web giant has faced several legal challenges
throughout the years. Some have even said the company needs to be stopped
before it totally controls revenue generation on the Web. For a while, it
seemed like Google didn't deserve to be the target of all those lawsuits. After
all, Microsoft was the hated company and Google was beloved. Why would anyone
pick on Google?

But in recent years, the legal issues the search giant has been forced to deal
with have grown in seriousness and quantity. And although it has so far emerged
largely unscathed, Google will continue to face legal issues both now and in
the future. Here is how it happened.

1. Google's Web standing

If Google didn't control nearly 70 percent of all Web searches in the
world, most regulators probably wouldn't pay much attention. But it does.
Similar to Microsoft's dominance in the operating system market, Google's
control over search is alarming. The company's slogan of never being evil is
fine and all, but dominating the extremely profitable search market allows it
control that most regulators don't like a company to have.
2. Microsoft's reduced dominance

Microsoft isn't the target that it once was. Make no mistake, Redmond
is still extremely powerful in the business. But companies like Apple and
especially Google have whittled away at Microsoft's share of the operating
system, browser, mobile and Web markets. Microsoft isn't quite the dominant
force in the industry that it once was. But that doesn't mean regulators aren't
keeping an eye on Microsoft anymore. It might mean that after being burned
multiple times, Microsoft is trying harder not to draw regulators' attention.
3. There is cause for concern

Although Google likes everyone to believe that it's always the innocent
party and there is no reason to doubt its intentions, there just might be. Google
has been embroiled in several privacy complaints over the years. The
company has also been working its way into several industries, including
building its own fiber network to compete with ISPs. Google isn't just a search
company anymore and some folks are wondering how much further it can go without
being held up.
4. The advertising business

At the recent Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona,
Spain, several carriers
spoke out against Google's advertising practices. They complained that by not
sharing advertising revenue the company generates from its mobile phones, it's
leaving carriers out of the money-making process. That wasn't the first time
Google has been targeted over its advertising. The company's DoubleClick
acquisition was the subject of much debate. Small
advertising networks are speaking out against Google's control over so many
advertising dollars sweeping across the Web. It might not be long before
Google's advertising intentions are called into question by the international
community.

The Target Keeps Growing Larger

5. Google as a content provider

Part of the debate in Google's recent privacy case in Italy
revolves around whether the company is a content provider or a resource for Web
users. Google contends that it's the latter. The Italian government argues the
opposite. But the reality is, Google is offering mobile operating systems. It's
an advertising juggernaut. It delivers Web-based services. It even operates a
social network. Its search might still be a resource, but as a company, Google
is much more.
6. Microsoft has been beaten up

Microsoft isn't as viable a target as it once was. As mentioned above,
Microsoft's significance in the tech industry has been reduced somewhat. That's
partly due to all the lawsuits the company has faced throughout the years. It
seems regulators have targeted almost all of the problems they had with
Microsoft. Now they're moving on to Google.
7. Privacy and Google

Privacy has been a constant concern with Google throughout the years. It's
also a hot-button issue for world governments. Most recently, Google faced criticism
over Google Buzz, its social network. Critics expressed concern that the
social network shared users' most frequent contacts with friends by default, and
friends were automatically added to the users' profiles. That's not an isolated
incident for Google. And governments know it. Perhaps that's why the company's
battle with Italy
is so important to both sides.
8. The power of free

A major reason for Google's success is all of its free services. We can't
discount that. Whereas consumers would need to save up to get some of
Microsoft's products, accessing Google's services is as simple as starting up a
browser and surfing to the desired offering. All the while, Google is
capitalizing on each of those users. By becoming the go-to freebie-offering
company on the Web, Google has built a hugely influential enterprise, and some
find that level of success troubling.

9. The halo effect

Google's dominance begins with search. Thanks to
the usability of its search service, users are becoming more and more willing
to use other Google services. That's cause for alarm for many government
regulators. By building upon search, Google can use all of its many services to
further dominate the advertising market. And by dominating the advertising
market, Google could eventually wield even greater control over the Internet.
It's that's scary.
10. It's about money

Of course, whether or not lawsuits will slow Google down is up for debate. But
as the company continues to generate more and more revenue through its
services, the target on its back will grow much larger.